A scheme to construct a Bloch-Siegert phase-shift (BSPS) self-compensated phase-incremented pulse (PIP) with a compensating PIP (similar to the idea by McCoy and Mueller) is presented, using the coherent averaging theory up to the second order. Under the condition of 2piDeltaftau = pi, where Deltaf is the difference of the chemical-shifts between the centers of the C-13(alpha) and (CO)-C-13 and tau is the pulse-width, the zero-order interaction between the PIPs and the C-13(alpha) spins is minimized. Consequently, the BSPS of the C-13(alpha) spins, caused by the two simultaneous PIPs, one applied at the center of the (CO)-C-13 and the other at the other side of the C-13(alpha), becomes linear in a quite broad range as a function of the offset. Therefore, the BSPS can be removed by taking into account a scaling factor, lambda = [1 - (f(1)(2)/Deltaf(2))], of the pulse-width or by a first-order phase correction. In addition, this scheme introduces a much smaller disturbance to the transverse and longitudinal magnetizations of the (13)Calpha than that by a single PIP. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.